"It's funny you mention that the FAA will miss the end of the year deadline. Since when has the government ever met its deadlines? 
Of course, if the government set a deadline on you and you did not make it then all hell would break loose. "

"It sounds like he's looking for an image with the camera facing straight down. From there, he could make a flat map on a sheet of paper. 

Also, there could be some error when using Google Earth as the satellites are not perfectly positioned to take…"

"The DJI Phantom 2 could be what you are looking for, although it may end up costing slightly over your budget.

DJI has some example pictures of what the footage coming out of the Phantom would look like…"